UWGB inks Wardle to 5-year deal

UW-Green Bay has reached a deal with men's basketball coach Brian Wardle on a five-year contract, the school announced Thursday.

"We are very excited about the direction of our men’s basketball program,” athletic director Mary Ellen Gillespie stated in a news release. “Brian and his staff have done an outstanding job the past four years, and we want to make sure we are continuing to move forward. A Horizon League Championship, a 24-win season, Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and postseason play certainly elevated Phoenix men’s basketball this year, and I am thrilled Brian and his staff will continue to lead our men as we strive to get to the next level. We believe in Brian, we want him at Green Bay, and we look forward to continued Phoenix success on the court and in the classroom."

“I am grateful and humbled to lead the Green Bay men’s basketball program moving forward,” Wardle said. “Green Bay has been home to my family for the past nine years, and we have a great deal of loyalty to this University and community. The support demonstrated by Mary Ellen and Chancellor Harden affirms the commitment they have to sustaining our program into the future, and it is my hope that we can continue to move the program forward and build off the foundation that has been set and this year's success. We compete in a challenging league and are now in a better position to sustain success.”

After five seasons as an assistant coach, Wardle was hired as Green Bay’s head coach in April of 2010. In his four seasons at the helm of the program, the Phoenix has compiled a 71-56 record. Green Bay has improved its overall and Horizon League record in each of the past four seasons.

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Wardle also announced on Thursday that Brian Barone has been promoted to Associate Head Coach. Barone joined the program as an assistant coach prior to the 2010-11 season and has worked on Wardle’s staff for the past four seasons.